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Cellar - The triangular bases of the corner fireplaces and the large base of the main room fireplace can be seen here. The hand-hewn beams and the underside of the main room floorboards are also clearly visible. Note that the cellar beams of the two sections of the house do not match up- there being too much leeway in position and space. This suggests that the bedrooms and entry may have been moved from another site and joined to the main section of the house. The main room wall was originally an exterior wall. Moving houses was not unusual in our period; mention of this can be found in the "Jottings from the Scudder Family", among other period papers. We do know, however, that at the time of Samuel Miller's death in 1782 that all three sections of the house were intact.
Attic- Clearly visible are the hand hewn beams and pegged rafters with Roman numerals (note #VI) known as Carpenter's marks or Raising numbers. Using an axe, beams were marked so that they could be matched up, Roman numerals being more easily made than Arabic.
There is no ridge pole and no sheathing (the first covering of boards on a timber roof). The shingles look "open" (note light coming in ) and "breathe" with changes in temperature and humidity, thus preventing rotting.
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